II. I shall attempt to show what is intended by the declaration, that things revealed belong to men.

By things revealed, I intend whatever is communicated in the Scriptures, whether expressly, or by fair and necessary implication. The things, expressly communicated in the Scriptures, are those which are contained in the fair, natural, and obvious sense of the expressions; the sense which arises, when the words are allowed to speak for themselves what they ⚫ most naturally mean, and are not strained to mean more; neither abridged of their full import, and so made to mean less; nor perverted, and so made to mean some other thing than that which is conveyed in their natural meaning; when they are ⚫ not compelled to support an opinion or system which we love, or to oppose one which we hate; but are permitted to declare what God intended they should declare. This meaning will usually be found by him, who, with a competent knowledge of language, and a willingness to receive the truth of God, *| whatever it is, comes to the Bible to learn what is contained in it, and to form his opinions out of its declarations; but will be very often missed by him, who resorts to it to gain support for a preconceived doctrine or system.

Things revealed are further those very things, and those only, which are declared concerning any subject. If God has chosen to reveal any doctrine partially, and to disclose only certain things pertaining to it, then these are the only revealed things which concern this doctrine. We, perhaps, may imagine, that other things are necessary to finish the proper scheme of this doctrine, and to make it more rational, consistent, and satisfactory; and may endeavour to supply the defect by eking out the Revelation with additional opinions of our own. What we have thus added, we may fondly believe to be a proper part of the doctrine revealed. But nothing can be more delusive. The clay, which we endeavour thus to unite with the iron, will never cohere; but, however ingeniously moulded, and however carefully conjoined, will still be clay, brittle and perishing.

With regard to doctrines implied in Scriptural expressions, I shall only observe that they must be clearly and certainly im

plied. 'When the inference is clear and immediate, or evinced by a very short and obvious train of reasoning, it may be generally received with safety; but when the links are many, and the chain long, there will almost always be danger. Long courses of even mathematical reasoning will often be deceptive; how much more exposed we are to error in our moral reasoning, I need not explain.

Things revealed are said, in the text, to belong to men. By this I understand, that they are our possession and property, given to us by God for our use, direction, and benefit. They are intended to be the objects of our faith, the rules of our duty, and the means of our salvation. These are the ends, for which the revelation, in which they are contained, declares them to have been revealed: they are therefore the true ends, and are to be regarded as such in all our conduct. Whenever they are pursued by us, we conform to the will of God: whenever they are neglected, we disobey it.

As the things which are revealed, are the rules of our faith and practice, in order to the attainment of salvation,-so they are the only rules. The secret, and the revealed things in the text, include all things which pertain to these subjects. But the text declares, that secret things belong to God, and therefore not to us. Things revealed are, of course, the only things with which we have any concern, in order to become holy, or virtuous here, and happy hereafter. There is no other character, no other pleasure of God; there are no other objects of duty, rules of faith, or means of salvation, with which we have any concern. If we seek for others,-if we busy ourselves with others, we shall not obey God, but disobey him.-We shall not become more, but less wise, virtuous, useful, and happy.

This will be obviously true, if we consider,

III. The end, for which God has made this prescription known to mankind.

This is expressed in these words, "that we may do all the "words of this law," as if Moses had said, God hath withheld all unrevealed things from us, and given to us all revealed

things for this great end, that we may obey his holy will, made known to us in the Scriptures.

The means or measures, which God is pleased to adopt for the accomplishment of his purposes, are always the wisest and best means; and such, as if heartily pursued by us, will prove to be, in the most perfect manner, efficacious. The means, which he has adopted in the present case, are to withhold some things, and to reveal others. The things withheld are all withheld of design, and in accordance with the dictates of infinite ⚫ wisdom and goodness. The things revealed were with the same design, and with the same infinite wisdom and goodness revealed. Had the things withheld, or, as they are called in the text, secret, been revealed; or had the things actually revealed, or any of them been not revealed, or revealed in any other manner, our situation, so far as our faith, duty, and salvation are concerned, would have been less advantageous, desirable, and happy. Had we been taught more or less, or been taught in any other manner, we should not have obeyed more willingly or perfectly, we should not have adopted a sounder creed, or a better life,-we should not have obtained salvation with more ease, or in a greater number of instances,— but should, in all these respects, have been more exposed to folly, to sin, and to ruin.

Every truth or doctrine which we know is attended or followed by many others, connected with it with more or less. clearness or obscurity. Each of these, so soon as known by us, is in the like manner attended or followed by many others. Thus the doctrines, connected in one manner or other with those which we know, are multiplied, to a degree which cannot be measured, faster than those which we have already known. Thus, when we have advanced in science of any kind a small distance only, other doctrines and inferences connected with these are discerned by us in such numbers as bear scarcely any perceivable proportion to the few which we clearly understand. These often distract us by their multitude, perplex us by their obscurity, discourage us by the difficulty which attends our investigation of them, and mislead us by the specious but unsound evidence with which alone we are able to determine

their reality or their relations to the doctrines known. Active and ingenious minds are apt to be bewildered by the mass of confusion thus presented to their inquiry, while those who are possessed of less energy desist from the investigation with listlessness and despair. These evils arrest every man busied in the pursuit of knowledge, when his capacity does not increase in proportion to the number of things presented to him for investigation, and this, after a moderate progress, is never the case with the human mind. Our faculties we know never expand beyond a certain limit, differing somewhat in different men, and in the same man under different advantages; but still in all men there is a bound which none can pass. But the things to be known are literally without number or degree, and the things whose existence we are able to perceive, and whose nature, relations, and dependencies we yet cannot understand, soon multiply and extend, so as to bear no perceivable proportion to the extent of our capacity. Hence all men of enlarged science agree, with a single voice, in declaring that the utmost increase of human knowledge amounts to little more than to know how few things can be known by us; a decision necessarily arising from the disproportionate increase of things to be known beyond that of our capacity to know them.

From these observations it is evident that a revelation made to mankind must, in order to be useful to them, be proportioned, in the number and nature of the things which it discloses, to the human capacity. Were such a revelation written for children only, it must, if it were to be of any use to them, contain generally such things, so few, so obvious, and written in some such plain manner as the songs which Dr. Watts has, with singular wisdom and felicity, composed for persons of that age. As the real revelation is designed for men, it must, in a similar manner, be suited to their capacity, and contain such things, and such only, as are fitted to employ and enlighten their understandings, influence their affections, and direct their conduct in the happiest manner. It ought also to communicate such things only as will be useful to us, such as will promote our real interests, and not such as would awaken or gratify that idle and restless curiosity which is ever wandering in

search of pleasure, and ever uninterested in the attainment of real good. I cannot avoid remarking here that the Scriptures, being designed for persons of all ages and capacities, are formed with such supreme wisdom as in their different parts to be exactly suited to the circumstances of all; to enlighten every understanding, to move every heart, and to regulate every life with the highest advantage.

In a revelation there are many subjects whose nature and extent must of necessity surpass the understanding, not only of man but of every finite being. Such, for example, are the character and pleasure of God. As these are in their nature and extent infinite, they can evidently be comprehended only by the infinite mind. Yet of these subjects even we can know something, and that something we absolutely need to know. God has accordingly disclosed to us several things concerning them in the Scriptures. As these subjects are in their nature and connection necessarily mysterious, we find our examinations of them attended, from time to time, with difficulties and perplexities, and are apt to believe that if more had been disclosed, our difficulties and perplexities would have been lessened. This is, however, an entire mistake. Had more things been revealed concerning these subjects, their nature would have seemed more vast, their connections more numerous and perplexing, their consequences more difficult and doubtful, and their mysteriousness more absolute and discouraging. Our minds, therefore, would in this case have been less satisfied and settled than they now are; and the influence of this part of revelation on our hearts and lives would have been less useful and happy. In our present situation we are prone to imagine that if we could see a little farther, and know a little more, we should arrive at certain boundaries where satisfaction and rest could be obtained; but did we reflect with only a moderate degree of attention and candour, we should perceive that our adventures in knowledge are like excursions in space, where the imagined goal at which we intend to stop retires even faster than we advance, and will continue to retire for ever. Thus, from the very nature of the case, it seems evident that the secret things referred to in the text are wisely withheld from us

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